Bullet Journal - Monthly Log

With July rapidly approaching, I decided to set up the monthly log. I watched a lot of videos, looked at pintrest. All I can say is wow! what a lot of creativity and ideas. I decided that I would be doing one layout and if it doesn't work, then I can change it for August.
This month's log is fairly simple. The first page is done and I have at least one to two more pages to go before I start the weekly log.

 I made July's calendar at the top of the page. I did it in pencil first and have since erased the pencil marks away. This allows me to track my days off, when family visits, birthdays, and anything else I want to see at a glance. I will put both Dave's and my appointments on it.
Below the calendar, I added a strip of Washi tape. It is just to divide the page into two parts and it looks nice. I may do a strip of Washi tape down the side as it is an important page to flip to. I will also add a tab to this page.

Next I added Thankful Thoughts. This allows me to record things we did, projects completed, and anything else I am thankful for.

On the next page I will be having two columns; a To Do List for the month and Sewing Projects/blogging. I am thinking about how they will look -- vertical or horizontal. Then I have to pen out the goals in each area. It has to be realistic and attainable.
On the next two pages, I will have be using two sewing planners (sewing projects and blogging) and a small weight loss chart. That will be the extent of my monthly planner.
I will do these pages on Sunday as I have to write out my to do list, projects and design the next spread. After that I will do the weekly log and I have a design feature I want to try; Dutch doors.

Bullet Journal - Setting Goals

The goals page supplies are three  items:

• 05 micron pen (black)
  
• Paper Mate Ink Joy pen 0.7 in blue
  
• Highlighter in blue

I chose to keep this page simple as it is my goals and I want to read them easily.
At the top of the page, I wrote goals in capital letters, boxed it, shadow boxed it and coloured the shadow box in the same colour as the printing.

You can see I added stars to the oops I had. That is part of life that I needed to fix up.
The goals part of the page is set up was difficult to choose. People had two columns and the goals were listed for themselves and family. I finally found a couple that went into goals, outcomes and action plans and made my decision. I wrote each goal out on post it notes and then did bullet journal.
Goals are not that hard to do. You decide on what your goal is. Is it attainable? Is it a short or long term goal? You need to decide that for yourself. My goal of loosing weight is long term. It will happen later rather than sooner for very specific reasons. I keep plugging away at - one step forward, two steps back it seems.
Next you decide your purpose. Why or what is your purpose for having that goal? One of my goals is to have a small or non-existent stash of fabric and yarn. Why or what is my purpose of that goal? To plan one project at a time rather than have many ideas rolling in my head and not getting to them in a timely fashion.
Lastly you plan on your action plan which is what do I need to do. For my stash it is to sew and not buy though I am allowed to buy some fabric and notions to finish projects or to try a new project that I can do immediately. Am I going on a fabric fast? Not really. But I want to sew more meters than I buy. I really want 3 pieces of fabric for doll clothes and yes, I will buy them. I haven't seen any other fabric I want. So, I will buy those 3 pieces and not buy anything else at the moment except for those notions I will need for project I have queued.
I didn't finish my goals page as there could be more to add to the list. And, yes, retire is on the list with set a date. My purpose changes daily and right now all is private in that domain.

 Next up will be a simple monthly log. Mine will be real simple and will include my goals, what I want to sew, blogging and weight loss.

Bullet Journal Key

Now that I can only do one thing at a time on the PC, I have had to reintroduce myself to my Mac. We have had our trials but all is well and I can now move on and do the next part of the Bullet Journal.

Materials Needed

• Bullet Journal
• 05 Micron pen (black)
• Coloured Ink Joy pens (mine are gel and 0.7)
• ruler
• Washi tape

On the page after the Future Log, will be the Key. I wrote key at the top which is 4 dots high. 

Next, I made two boxes side by side. The left hand box is 12 boxes wide by 17 boxes long. The right hand box starts after leaving one box empty. On the next row, I drew a line across the page. 

At the bottom of the page, I added a piece of Washi tape. I had seen it added to a couple of other Bullet Journals and liked it. 

Next a box was drawn at the bottom of the page. Mine is 26 dots wide by 10 boxes deep. Yours could be slightly different in depth. 

As I researched bullet journal keys, there was a commonality in them in all. The key was an index of symbols. Each of the unique symbols are used to represent tasks, events, appointments. 

 The first column is my index. I am not sure if I will use all of them but I am sure over time I will. 

The second column is the code to tell me where I am at with a project. They are called signifiers. 

In the bottom box, I color coded each of us so I know exactly who is doing what. For example, Elliott has an appointment with the vet tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. and I would write it in the daily journal in orange as Vet - 2:30 p.m. 
Next is the goals page. I am working on my goals for the next 6 months which includes weight loss, blogging, sewing for myself and trips, visiting friends, etc. for family. 

A Transformation

Reflections
I had to take a picture of the front of the house yesterday afternoon. What a transformation. We have gone from this in June 2009:

to this in July 2012 after I had taken a course in doing hanging baskets and pots and we had ripped off some of the old siding:

to this in April 2015:

The hanging baskets still need to go up and will look very similar to those I did in 2012. I do them like this every year as they are our mark in the neighbourhood.

Until tomorrow………………………….